Revisiting the Four ‘Pillars of Learning’

Learning to know

This type of learning is radically different from ‘acquiring itemized codified information or factual

knowledge’, as often stressed in conventional curriculum and in ‘rote learning’. 

Learning to do

This pillar of learning implies in the first place for application of what learners have learned or known

into practices; it is closely linked to vocational-technical education and work skills training. However it

goes beyond narrowly defined skills development for ‘doing’ specific things or practical tasks in

traditional or industrial economies. The emerging knowledge-based economy is making human work

increasingly immaterial. ‘Learning to do’ calls for new types of skills, more behavioral than intellectual.

The material and the technology are becoming secondary to human qualities and interpersonal

relationship.

Learning to live together (in harmony)

In the context of increasing globalization, the Delors Commission places a special emphasis on this

pillar of learning. It implies an education taking two complementary paths: on one level, discovery of

others and on another, experience of shared purposes throughout life. Specifically it implies the

development of such qualities as: knowledge and understanding of self and others; appreciation of the

diversity of the human race and an awareness of the similarities between, and the interdependence of, all

humans; empathy and cooperative social behavior in caring and sharing; respect of other people and

their cultures and value systems; capability of encountering others and resolving conflicts through

dialogue; and competency in working towards common objectives.

Learning to be (ownself)

 This type of learning was first conceptualized in the Report to UNESCO in 1972, Learning To Be (Edgar

Faure et al), out of the fear that ‘the world would be dehumanized as a result of technical change’. It was

based on the principle that ‘the aim of development is the complete fulfillment of man, in all the richness

of his personality, the complexity of his forms of expression and his various commitments – as

individual, member of a family and of a community, citizen and producer, inventor of techniques and

creative dreamer’. ‘Learning to be’ may therefore be interpreted in one way as learning to be human,

through acquisition of knowledge, skills and values conducive to personality development in its

intellectual, moral, cultural and physical dimensions. This implies a curriculum aiming at cultivating

qualities of imagination and creativity; acquiring universally shared human values; developing aspects

of a person’s potential: memory, reasoning, aesthetic sense, physical capacity and communication/social

skills; developing critical thinking and exercising independent judgment; and developing personal

commitment and responsibility.